But the quantitative reality has overrun all in its path. One might even surmise that the great popularity enjoyed by the TV serial Man Men was evidence of nostalgia for a simpler time when everything wasnt data driven and the non-quant majority could still find a decent job.
Design survives - nay, flourishes - as a handmaiden of technology, but as the following article explains, data rules. Those who wish to make a career in marketing must either master those skills - or be a good enough marketer to convince others that they have done so. JL
Sarah Hodges comments in Venture Beat:
The demand for marketers with marketing automation skills has grown a staggering 160% since 2011, and demand for marketers with mastery of Google Analytics has increased 119%.
It used to be that if you wanted a job in marketing, you’d rattle off the results you’d racked up from trade shows or showcase the creative from the most recent ad campaign you managed. But new data from Burning Glass and Smarterer shows that marketers without analytical skills are quickly being left behind. Case in point: demand for marketers with marketing automation skills has grown a staggering 160% since 2011, and demand for marketers with mastery of Google Analytics has increased 119%.
So while the massive growth of marketing software companies from Lattice Engines to HubSpot has been good for the tech market, it’s also good news for data-driven marketers who are as savvy with numbers as they are with words. And for those who don’t have technical or analytical skills, the message is stark: adapt or face extinction. So what do marketers need to succeed in the 2015 marketing job market? We crunched the numbers so you don’t have to:
1) Analytical chops: If you want a role as an individual contributor on a team, you better know your data. Job postings for individual contributors are 65% more likely to demand data analysis skills than marketing manager positions, so rising stars in the space will need to know as much about regression analysis as they will about real-time marketing. But demand for analytics isn’t limited to individuals; job postings for marketing managers were 78% more likely to include a requirement for pricing strategy, so whether you want to be an individual player or the quarterback calling the plays, you’ll need to brush up on your math skills to stay in the game.
2) Systems savvy: The top two skills tests for marketers are WordPress and HTML5, so when you combine those top tests with the fastest growing skill demands in job postings, it’s clear knowing your way around a few core marketing tools is the new price of admission for top marketing jobs. Whether you’re a WordPress pro with significant insight into tips and tricks to optimize your blog posts, a HubSpot whiz who knows how to build workflows like a champ, or a Google Analytics and AdWords master, conversational systems knowledge is no longer enough. More and more job seekers will post systems knowledge like language skills, and an increasing number of companies will start testing for proficiency long before they extend offer letters: training and teaching all things to all marketers is too expensive and timely for most companies to make work.
3) Responsiveness: It used to be that responsiveness was a soft skill demanded of top marketers to work well with executives, but now responsiveness has taken on an entirely different meaning in the marketing job hunt. Companies that makes their customer experience responsive across their website, forms, and email see a 4x increase in visitor-to-buyer conversion rates and a 2x increase in revenue according to research from Aberdeen Group. Knowing how to create an integrated, mobile-friendly website optimized for search and consumption is no longer optional but required, and marketers familiar with the tips, tricks, and tools of designing and mobilizing a responsive site will stay far ahead of the pack, particularly as Google’s new algorithm rewards mobile-friendly design and websites.
The old adage of marketers “I know half my marketing is working, I just don’t know which half” is now a blast from the past, but still for far too many companies, marketing remains more art than science. The newest data from Burning Glass and Smarterer prove that for the entire industry, the times, they are changing, and the marketers must rapidly augment their skill base to avoid facing extinction entirely
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